Have You Chosen Your FM22 Save Yet?

[BamBamBam]

Starting, as i always do, with Southend. Slightly tougher this year as we are crap and in the Conference!

[ScottishFM]

Done my beta save with Celtic, not overly challenging but allows me to learn the new game while also taking charge of the team I support. Won the treble first season, all be it on goal difference on a dramatic final game of the season.

Now the full release is out, I'm looking to start something completely different to do as my full game save, any ideas? I typically have always stuck to Scotland/England but really want to get out my comfort zone and try something different this year, ideally still staying in europe though.

Anyone got any suggestions?

[iamfrench]

Athletic Bilbao is excellent. 

You can only recruit Basque players, or Spaniards who are 16 years old. Golden generation every year. Every player is important, you can't buy just every player. 

[DasMagicMullet]

Well, can't lie, after spending weeks thinking I'll go with Magdeburg, I started the game, played a couple of months and felt.... meh. Not clicking.

Thought I'd go as Shakthar to recreate my favourite ever FM08 save, didn't get beyond day 1 without... meh

I need something to grab me. I need a team with a story.

[The Frying Finn]

The last FM I played was FM08 and my newly built PC has not arrived yet, so I reckon I will be spending some hours just setting things up and messing around. But I guess I'll be starting a League 2 / National League save. Do a 5-year plan to get promoted to the Championship or something like that.

[DasMagicMullet]

1 hour ago, DasMagicMullet said:

Well, can't lie, after spending weeks thinking I'll go with Magdeburg, I started the game, played a couple of months and felt.... meh. Not clicking.

Thought I'd go as Shakthar to recreate my favourite ever FM08 save, didn't get beyond day 1 without... meh

I need something to grab me. I need a team with a story.

I decided to follow WorkTheSpace's park to Prem method. Loaded up a big database, started with lowest stats and unemployed, skip to December and start applying for jobs. Just taken over with FC Halifax, going to turn them into mentality monsters.

[Yuko]

On 08/11/2021 at 23:08, ScottishFM said:

Done my beta save with Celtic, not overly challenging but allows me to learn the new game while also taking charge of the team I support. Won the treble first season, all be it on goal difference on a dramatic final game of the season.

Now the full release is out, I'm looking to start something completely different to do as my full game save, any ideas? I typically have always stuck to Scotland/England but really want to get out my comfort zone and try something different this year, ideally still staying in europe though.

Anyone got any suggestions?

 

Recommended this to someone else, but this was mostly for a more challenging save from 3rd tiers of Europe.

 

39 minutes ago, Yuko said:

I really like this list. I'd add Bolton, Wigan, AFC Wimbledon and Portsmouth from England.

 

Maybe from Germany you could add the option of Magdeburg (one of the greatest fanbases out there). They're also top of the league at the moment so they should be a decent shout for a promotion bid. There's aslo Braunschweig who were in the top division not too long ago. 

 

You could consider the following from:

Italy: Triestina, Padova, Lecco, Mantova, Pro Vercelli, Cesena, Imolese, Modena, Lucchese, Pescara, Siena, Reggiana, Catania, Foggia, Catanzaro, Palermo, Taranto, Monopoli, Latina, Bari, Avellino, Messina

 

There's a wide variety of teams to select here. If you're willing to spend something like an hour max to go through a quick check on their history, fans and cities you will definitely find at least 3 to fall in love with. Then you pick which region you want to pick (A -> north or northwest, B -> central and/or northeast, C -> south)

 

Spain: Deportivo La Coruna, Racing Santander, Salamanca, Atletico Baleares, FC Andorra, Gimnastic Tarragona, Sabadell

Spain's lowest division has a few teams that beg to be either resurrected or elevated to a proper first tier level. Two division system is making things interesting with the playoffs at the end.

 

France: Auxerre, Toulouse, Sochaux, Le Havre, Ajaccio, Grenoble, Caen, Guingamp, Paris FC, Bastia, Nancy, Dunkerque, Dijon, Valenciennes... honestly, any Ligue 2 team.

For France since the competition is different it is better imo to start from the 2nd tier rather than the 3rd. It's ultra competitive, especially if you don't pick a side that could challenge promotion. Could take 3-4 seasons there to build a winning squad and then you'll probably get pounced back to the 2nd division if you don't make smart moves. If you pick a stronger side you could establish yourself as a top-half side in Ligue 1 within 2-3 seasons.

Some of these teams have solid facilities as well, so that could be a factor.

If you wish to go for the third tier, some interesting picks are: Le Mans, Orleans, Sedan, Red Star, Boulogne and one that I'll definitely have a go with, Avranches just because they sport the St Michel castle on their crest.

 

I would go on to recommend clubs from other mid-tier leagues but I think that's way off of what you're intending to do here.

 

The other German options listed in the lost quote were Dynamo Dresden (2nd tier), Kaiserslautern (3rd tier) and 1860 Munchen (3rd tier)

 

Depends if you want to go top division of a mid-tier league, there are great choices in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Russia (more challenging due to foreign limits) and maybe something in Austria, Switzerland or the Czech Republic. But after a while it gets tiring, as once you establish yourself as a perennial CL team you will probably end up winning the league easily, but you could hop around 2-3 of these countries before making a switch to Celtic and/or a PL club as a winning coach. 

[stevedaytona]

On 08/11/2021 at 16:53, iamfrench said:

Athletic Bilbao is excellent. 

You can only recruit Basque players, or Spaniards who are 16 years old. Golden generation every year. Every player is important, you can't buy just every player. 

I just started with Athletic Bilbao - a first foray into La Liga for a long time.  What I can't get to grips with is the B & C teams.  I put the Technical Director in charge of hiring staff for those teams but he doesn't do anything (but I can't place adverts for the open positions).  The C team doesn't have any games (other than pre-season friendlies) - as (I think) they are not in a playable league.

Still, I am top of La Liga and unbeaten after 8 games so all good for now.

[parsdaft1982]

On 08/11/2021 at 21:08, ScottishFM said:

Done my beta save with Celtic, not overly challenging but allows me to learn the new game while also taking charge of the team I support. Won the treble first season, all be it on goal difference on a dramatic final game of the season.

Now the full release is out, I'm looking to start something completely different to do as my full game save, any ideas? I typically have always stuck to Scotland/England but really want to get out my comfort zone and try something different this year, ideally still staying in europe though.

Anyone got any suggestions?

I started my Beta save with Limavady in Northern Ireland 3rd tier, enjoyed it, now at Stirling Albion. I also went Deportivo in FM21, really enjoyed that save.

[SkeltonTom]

Started unemployed with Continental B badges and National Experience. I've took over Southampton who sat rock bottom of the PL without a win in mid-November. I'm now 17th, 1 point above the relegation zone with 8 games to go. Hopefully will keep them up, but I think I'll be given the chance to bring them back up if we go down. Really enjoying it so far.

[n1mez]

On 09/09/2021 at 20:20, Kloppy said:

Beta save with Liverpool as always. Manage them until I get bored. Quite realistic save as well so I end up only doing one transfer a season anyways. FSG's wet dream I am. 

Main save will be with one of the Red Bull teams, can only sign players from other Red Bull teams and will hopefully get the move to Leipzig and take over the world. Ideal progression path will be New York Red Bulls or Brazilian Red Bulls (forget actual name), then move to Salzburg, then finally Leipzig. 

Then maybe a Journeyman save in Asia to finish the game off.

Did you ever do your Red Bull save?

[Sunstrikuuu]

Racing Club de France Football, based in one of the Parisian communes.  Founded in 1882, made its debut in a professional league in 1899 and won the championship in 1907.  Racing were a founding member of Ligue 1 and won the title in the '35-36 season; they've also won the Coupe de France five times, and hold the Ligue 1 record for most goals scored in a 38-match season with 118 in 1959-60.  The early '60s were good to Racing with two back-to-back runners-up finishes, but the club were relegated following financial problems.  In the 1980s, a new chairman tried to spend his way back to Ligue 1 and spent a ton of money on experienced players and coaches.  It got them back to Ligue 1 in 1988, but financial problems destroyed the club, relegating them down to the amateur leagues.  For financial reasons, the club moved out of Colombes, the Parisian commune they called home, in 2009; they moved back in 2012.  Currently, Racing CFF are in the National 3, the French 5th tier.

Notable alumni include Thadee Cisowski, whose 206 goals for three teams including Racing make him the 5th leading scorer in Ligue 1 history; Luis Fernandez, French European champion, who played for the team in the late 1980s; Roger Marche, whose 542 appearances for Reims and Racing are 9th-most in Ligue 1; David Ginola, who played for Paris before breaking out with Brest; and Enzo Francescoli, one of Uruguay's greatest-ever players.  Racing CFF's most important former players, though, are Abdelkader Ben Bouali, who in 1937 became the first player of North African descent to play for France, and Raoul Diagne, the Black Spider, an attacking right back who became the first Black player to play for France from 1931-40 and the first manager of Senegal's national team in 1960.

Last year my long-term save was with Merthyr Town; it turned into a journeyman save when I was sacked.  I'm hoping I don't suffer the same fate here.

[Kloppy]

On 11/12/2021 at 21:33, n1mez said:

Did you ever do your Red Bull save?

Yep playing it now, having a blast. I Left Brazil only the other day. Enjoyed it with a downloaded database to get extra leagues. Was hard with the packed schedule so looked to leave as quickly as the Salzburg job opened up. Luckily they didn't do well and I got the job after 3 seasons. Playing at Salzburg now and it's quite easy in the Austrian Prem. Just focusing on the Champions League. Hopefully, Leipzig soon is available. FM didn't really get the links between the clubs correct, hard to get players from each :/